Scan barcode
A review by achillesheeled
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
2.0
“How come nobody tells you?”
“Nobody tells you shit ever,” he said. “The trick is having a buddy.”
“An emergency contact.”
“Exactly,” he said. “That’s the pact.”
i wanted so, so badly to dnf this but i didnt and im pretty sure i should have. 2 stars, not 1, because there were a few parts i went “huh. if the whole book was like this itd be a lot better”. (also that cover... wow)
this book was just SO disappointing to me. i wanted a cheesy feel-good romcom but i just could not care about any of the characters. penny had “not like other girls” syndrome, sam is way too old for her (and he literally admits this?? theres a part in his narration where he says that he should wait until shes “old enough to qualify as a human”, i.e., 25 when hes 30... she is 18...), mallory makes a racist comment that never gets resolved, and jude... well, actually. jude wasnt too bad. id rather have her be the protagonist honestly.
the writing is only good sometimes. it really could benefit from less telling and more showing, and maybe cutting out almost all pop culture references or acronyms (seriously, who calls their own mother a milf?? do you know what that stands for??)
the romance is. well. bad. underdeveloped. did not feel like sam and penny were a good match at all. ending was... meh.
TW for a recount of rape.
“Nobody tells you shit ever,” he said. “The trick is having a buddy.”
“An emergency contact.”
“Exactly,” he said. “That’s the pact.”
i wanted so, so badly to dnf this but i didnt and im pretty sure i should have. 2 stars, not 1, because there were a few parts i went “huh. if the whole book was like this itd be a lot better”. (also that cover... wow)
this book was just SO disappointing to me. i wanted a cheesy feel-good romcom but i just could not care about any of the characters. penny had “not like other girls” syndrome, sam is way too old for her (and he literally admits this?? theres a part in his narration where he says that he should wait until shes “old enough to qualify as a human”, i.e., 25 when hes 30... she is 18...), mallory makes a racist comment that never gets resolved, and jude... well, actually. jude wasnt too bad. id rather have her be the protagonist honestly.
the writing is only good sometimes. it really could benefit from less telling and more showing, and maybe cutting out almost all pop culture references or acronyms (seriously, who calls their own mother a milf?? do you know what that stands for??)
the romance is. well. bad. underdeveloped. did not feel like sam and penny were a good match at all. ending was... meh.
TW for a recount of rape.